Revival Vintage Sprits & Bottle Shop is suing its landlord, 614 Madison YMCA LLC, a year after Revival expected to open its two-story bourbon experience at that location in Covington, according to a lawsuit filed in July.
Revival, which announced in August 2022 that it would be moving from its East 8th Street location that fall, filed suit on July 19, 2023, saying the improvements they were promised before they could move into the space had still not been completed.
The LLC is registered to William Thomas Fisher, and Guy van Rooyen, who is CEO of the group that owns and developed Hotel Covington and North by Hotel Covington, is listed as a current officer.
“Our entire team is incredibly excited with the addition of Revival to our master development at North by Hotel Covington,” Guy van Rooyen, president and CEO of the Salyers Group, said in August of 2022. “Their business is a great fit not only for our project but for the community at large and continues the development momentum in Covington.”
Revival says in the suit that the company had received several requests for private events that they could not accept because their landlord had failed to complete the Revival-specific buildout.
“As a result of Landlord’s failure to timely deliver the Premises, Tenant lost income
because it was not able to accept private events, was unable to store additional inventory, and was unable to display all its inventory for sale,” the lawsuit says.
Revival was forced to pay for unexpected storage and attorneys fees in order to store their inventory at other locations and obtain licensure necessary to do so, the suit reads.
The business also says in the lawsuit that, “Pursuant to the Lease, Landlord was to ‘provide Tenant with a $93,850.00 Tenant Improvement Allowance which Tenant may utilize at their own discretion for additional building improvements, furniture, fixtures, equipment, consulting fees, licensing fees, and consulting fees.”
The suit says that “On November 4, 2022, Guy Van Rooyen, Defendant’s CEO, stated Defendant would pay the TIA on or before December 31, 2022.”
According to the lawsuit, that money has not been paid to Revival.
In its response to the lawsuit, the LLC denies most claims, but does admit that the tenant improvement allowance was not paid before Dec. 31, 2022. The response also includes a counterclaim related to a right of first refusal agreement it has with Revival.
That agreement “provided that if the third floor of the Premises became available for
occupancy, Defendant would first offer it to Plaintiff under market commercial terms and in a lease that was generally consistent with the Lease that was executed for the first and second floors of the Premises.”
In February 2023, according to the counterclaim, a prospective tenant became interested in leasing the third floor of the property. Revival then exercised right of first refusal, and the lease with the same terms that had been offered to the prospective tenant was then offered to Revival, according to the response.
Negotiations with the prospective tenant were then cut off, the response says, but then “it became apparent” that Revival never intended to exercise the right of first refusal and lease the third floor of the building.
“As a result of Plaintiff’s improper conduct, the third floor of the Premises remains
unoccupied and Defendant has been unable to collect any rent for same,” the counterclaim reads.
But, according to the initial lawsuit, Revival says that “Landlord has refused to offer Tenant a lease for the Third Floor which does not change material portions of the existing Lease with respect to the First and Second Floor.”
Both parties are expected to appear in Kenton County Circuit Court Thursday at 1:30 p.m., according to court documents.